I am a first time user, looking for good advice. We are two non-smoking adults and two children wishing to stay Saturday July 14, 2007 through Wednesday July 18th in a comfortable chain hotel in the Southport / Oak Island area of North Carolina. Priceline looks like it might be a great thing for us. The kids are willing to sleep on an air mattress if we only get one bed (they only request a waffle maker at breakfast!) There are only two hotels listed on Priceline for this area: Hampton Inn Southport at $146 a night 2 1/2 stars Comfort Suites Southport at $127 a night 2 stars ("all rooms non-smoking after May") Neither are on the beach itself. There are several non-chain, family owned hotels on the beach itself, but my husband is all for guaranteed cleanliness and comfort and doesn't want to risk it. The trip is four months away. I looked at a rental house web page where the "already rented out" times were shaded, and yes, this IS the peak time for vacations, mid-July through August. I can't find Southport or Oak Island on Hotwire So, I'm thinking I'll start by bidding $55 a night, and Priceline will either accept or decline the bid for one of those two hotels. I'm assuming there's no other hidden hotels that might be in the running. I'm assuming that if Priceline declines the offer, I have enough time to keep increasing my bid by $5 at a time. Once a bid is accepted, I can call Priceline and ask them to request a non-smoking, two bed room for us? Does anyone see any problem with my plans or have any suggestions whatsoever? I'll post the final results of my bidding if this works out. Thanks!